Lazarus: Sophia Anne Caruso reveals all about working with David Bowie on his theatrical swansong

In December last year, David Bowie made his final public appearance at the New York premiere of Lazarus, the musical that the late icon penned with Irish playwright Enda Walsh.

Billed as a spiritual sequel to Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth, it’s an otherworldly celebration of Bowie’s work – featuring Dexter star Michael C Hall as Thomas Jerome Newton – the alien who is doomed to eek out a a boozy, loveless existence in a New York apartment after becoming stranded on Earth.

But he’s given the unlikiest glimmer of hope when ‘girl’ suddenly appears – a character with an angelic but mysterious presence who might just hold the answer to finally taking him back home.

Sophia stars as the mysterious ‘girl’ in the show (Picture: Johan Persson)

It’s a role that 15-year-old newcomer Sophia Anne Caruso inhibits with astonishing confidence, with her finest moment coming during an incendiary rendition of Life On Mars at the midway point of the show.

And as Lazarus opens in London for the first time at the Kings Cross Theatre, we caught up with Sophia to discuss working with Bowie, and what audiences can expect from the show.

So how did you first become involved with Lazarus?

I first saw the role of ‘girl’ online and it was very nondescript and very ethereal.

But I soon realised it said 18+ and I immediately thought “f**k that” – I asked my agent to get an audition, but they couldn’t.

In the end, I just went to the open call like everyone else – without my agent knowing.They only found out when they received a call to say “Yeah, she’s got a call back for the role” and my agents were like what?! She didn’t even audition.

And what was it like first meeting David, is it true that the whole thing was quite last minute?

Originally I wasn’t supposed to audition for David, but an hour before my call back the producers rang me and said “Can you be at the casting office in ten minutes? David Bowie’s there and he wants you to sing for him”.

I jumped off the train and ran there, dripping with sweat. But he introduced himself and he was really friendly. I sang Fields Of Gold by Sting and I think he really liked it.

He wasn’t always there. Enda Walsh [playwright] was there, but we had no idea that David was sick. He’d show up for rehearsals some of the time and visited but he certainly wasn’t there all the time.

But I’m glad of that. I probably would have been shaking and scared to do my job.

Do you have any special memories of working with David that particularly stand out?

Just the whole thing – it’s been a highlight of my life.

But specifically I remember one time he came to music rehearsal and I’d already sung No Plan, which he hadn’t heard me sing yet.

On a break he said to me “If you don’t mind, can you sing it for me?” I’m thinking, if I don’t mind? Of course I will!

It was special, the whole thing working with him.

The show is running at London’s Kings Cross Theatre until January (Picture: Jan Versweyveld)

How would you describe Lazarus?

It’s whatever you want it to be. It’s open to interpretation and that’s what I love about it. For my character, it’s the question of is she a real girl, a spirit, or does she just exist in Newton’s imagination?

Dexter’s Michael C Hall has returned for the London run. (Picture: Jan Versweyveld)

Or both? For me it’s both things and I leave that to the audience to interpret that.

But it’s about Newton and his journey as a lost soul. People tell me that it’s such a dark show, but it’s also hopeful and beautiful at the same time.

I would say just watch it. Don’t try and navigate it. Just relax, listen to the music and don’t think about the plot. Just sort of let whatever comes to you, come to you.

I think people who hate it have no imagination. People like that need everything to be obvious.

Your performance of Life On Mars is one of the show’s standout moments, and there’s a real sense of longing and attempting to start afresh in the song. Do you think that’s quite a big theme in the show?

Sophia’s Life On Mars performance is a stand out moment in the show (Picture: Kings Cross Theatre)

The beginning is so dark and Newton is depressed before my character brings hope.

That’s the moment for him, I think, where it sort of becomes bigger. And after Absolute Beginners, that’s like us starting a new path and that’s what that song is about.

It’s him deciding whether he wants to be stuck in his sh*tty world, or whether he wants to start a new track.

My character is holding something back, she doesn’t know anything about herself.

And with Life on Mars, and a little bit before that, I think I’m kind of holding something in where I’m starting to know things about myself and things are coming back to me.

The show is an ethereal, and at times, challenging, piece of work (Picture: Jan Versweyveld)

That’s what Life On Mars is. Life On Mars is also like lift-off.

That song is about frustration with the world, especially the lyrics. The law man beating up the wrong guy? That’s so relevant to the problems we face today, or at least that’s how I think of it.

And for people who say Bowie is jibber jabber, I think you f***ing need to listen to the lyrics because they mean something very important.

It’s about the sh***y world. And is there Life on Mars? Let’s go, lets f**king go to Mars. So that’s what that song is about for me.

You mentioned the significance of ‘beating up the wrong guy’ as a lyric. Do you think that it can relate to the problems that America is facing today, and perhaps the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement?

Exactly, I think that’s what it’s about. Beating up the wrong guy – it’s the assumption of placing the blame on someone because they’re black. It’s very strong, it means something so strong for me because I support Black Lives Matter and I did a performance for the movement before.

I’m very interested in human rights and that lyric always hits me.

What was it like working with Michael C.Hall?

A dream, because I knew all of his work. I was always a fan of his and I loved Six Feet Under, he’s really great on that.

And Dexter, obviously. I was watching Dexter when I did the first production. I was re-watching it to remember what kind of actor Michael was and learning about him again.

He’s so humble and one of my favourite people that I’ve worked with. So talented and awesome.

Did you ever have any indication that David was seriously ill?

Sophia returns to the show after its initial New York run (Picture: Johan Persson)

He was so thin when I saw him in rehearsal but he was always famously thin so I never thought anything of it. I did wonder why he didn’t always show up and it was almost a subconscious thing, is he sick?

But I pushed it to the side and thought he can never be sick because he’s such an icon, I just thought that he can never be ill.

When everyone knew was when I knew.

Along with David’s final album, Blackstar, do you think that Lazarus is his swansong to fans?

Floral tributes were left outside thew New York theatre where Lazarus was performed after Bowie’s death (Picture: Getty)

Lazarus is a lot of things. In New York, I remember we had the cast recording set up on the day we found out he died and we did that. On the next day we had our first performance back and there was a shrine. It was very strange but since then it’s been a tribute to him, every performance.

But it also has to be a show too, it can’t just be a rock tribute.

We have fans coming who mourn, and I’m fine with that. Come and mourn, listen to his music sung by people who he handpicked.